From WhatsApp to TikTok: App bans that have swept US government devices

Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp messaging service has been banned from all devices issued by the US House of Representatives. A memo sent to House staff on Monday explained that the "Office of Cybersecurity has deemed WhatsApp a high risk to users due to the lack of transparency in how it protects user data, absence of stored data encryption, and potential security risks involved with its use."

But WhatsApp isn’t the only app banned on US government devices over privacy and security concerns. Here are a few others that have faced a similar fate:

TikTok

Back in 2022, CNN reported that TikTok was banned from electronic devices managed by the US House of Representatives. An internal notice to White House staff described the Chinese-owned app as a “high risk to users due to a number of security risks.”

In 2023, the Biden administration took it further by banning TikTok from all devices used by federal employees.

The app’s troubles, however, weren’t restricted to just government devices. More recently, President Donald Trump extended the deadline for a possible nationwide ban for the third time, aiming to push TikTok into American ownership.

DeepSeek

In March, Reuters reported that the Trump administration was considering a ban on the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek from US government devices, citing national security concerns.

Earlier in January, the US Navy advised its members not to use the platform, as did space agency NASA, which blocked access to DeepSeek on its systems. Then, in March, the US Commerce Department followed in their footsteps as well.

ChatGPT

In 2023, The Verge reported that House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine L Szpindor said lawmakers and staff were only allowed to use the paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, due to its stronger privacy protections. “No other versions of ChatGPT or other large language models AI software are authorised for use in the House currently,” Szpindor wrote in a memo.